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Tiny Scabs On Skin- Winter Dryness?


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Guest KateWantsaGrey
Posted

I've noticed over the last 2 months or so that Pace is getting these little tiny scabs on his back, from between his shoulders all the way down to the base of his tail/hip bones. I first noticed this after he got his vaccine for rabies (the one that lasts for 3 years) and i thought i was because the vaccine gave him hives, and that maybe they scabbed over? The vet had him on benadryl for a few days for the hives, but besides that no action was taken. Also, I gave him a bath to scrub his back down and that seemed to help a lot. Only now, a few months later, they are showing up again. The closest thing I can compare it to is when a dog has fleas, and has an allergic reaction to the flea bites. However i dont think this is the case because he is on Frontline, and it's the middle of winter here in Chicago, and I never see any fleas on him and he is an all white dog. When i look closely at his skin it does look dry and sort of flaky, so i'm wondering if its a winter thing? i don't remember this happening last year though. This is our 2nd winter together. So I was just wondering if anyone had an idea why he would be getting these crusty little scabs along his back. Thank you for any feed back!

 

-Katie & Pace

Posted

It's possible. You can put him on fish oil to put some moisture back in the skin. If he's already on it, you can increase his dose up to 4,000 mg. a day.

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Posted (edited)

The first thing I would try is a humidifier. The dry heat that we all deal with in these cold climates is really tough on skin, and putting some moisture into the air really helps.

 

In addition, what do you feed? A food with more fat may help.

 

You can also look into supplementation. I like Hair of the Dog by Doc's Blend. I have not found anything I like better. In winter, we usually double the dose for Naples (the lone Greyhound in our home), but have not needed to do so this year.

 

Another very simple thing you can try is daily brushing. This will help stimulate and distrubute the natural oils found in the skin.

 

*ETA: if this does not work, go back to the vet, and ask if there could be something else going on. This may be simple dry skin, but it could be something more.

Edited by Sighthounds4me

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Guest KateWantsaGrey
Posted

The first thing I would try is a humidifier. The dry heat that we all deal with in these cold climates is really tough on skin, and putting some moisture into the air really helps.

 

In addition, what do you feed? A food with more fat may help.

 

You can also look into supplementation. I like Hair of the Dog by Doc's Blend. I have not found anything I like better. In winter, we usually double the dose for Naples (the lone Greyhound in our home), but have not needed to do so this year.

 

Another very simple thing you can try is daily brushing. This will help stimulate and distrubute the natural oils found in the skin.

 

*ETA: if this does not work, go back to the vet, and ask if there could be something else going on. This may be simple dry skin, but it could be something more.

 

 

We feed Wellness CORE. I'm not sure if this is a high or low fat food. I am going to give him a good brushing while we are out on our walk tonight, and see if that helps. It's just odd because the little crusty pieces are just along his spine, not anywhere else. I have a feeling this is going to end in a vet visit- like all our dog issues lol. Thanks again for the feed back :)

Guest lori_ernie
Posted

I've noticed over the last 2 months or so that Pace is getting these little tiny scabs on his back, from between his shoulders all the way down to the base of his tail/hip bones. I first noticed this after he got his vaccine for rabies (the one that lasts for 3 years) and i thought i was because the vaccine gave him hives, and that maybe they scabbed over? The vet had him on benadryl for a few days for the hives, but besides that no action was taken. Also, I gave him a bath to scrub his back down and that seemed to help a lot. Only now, a few months later, they are showing up again. The closest thing I can compare it to is when a dog has fleas, and has an allergic reaction to the flea bites. However i dont think this is the case because he is on Frontline, and it's the middle of winter here in Chicago, and I never see any fleas on him and he is an all white dog. When i look closely at his skin it does look dry and sort of flaky, so i'm wondering if its a winter thing? i don't remember this happening last year though. This is our 2nd winter together. So I was just wondering if anyone had an idea why he would be getting these crusty little scabs along his back. Thank you for any feed back!

 

-Katie & Pace

 

We've had similar problems with our whtie with black ticking female but none of our other 4 show any signs of this. She gets little scabs all over her back that are very red and digs at them constantly. She's been to the vet several times and we've had her on antibiotics and Benadryl twice a day but nothing has helped. Let me know if you find anything that works as we would certainly be thrilled to do something to help her.

Posted

Does it look like this?

 

2721844361_46417b877b.jpg

 

That's Jacey's butt in July 2008. The vet put her on Gentocin spray (two or three times a day, I think), and the scabby spots disappeared within the week.

15060353021_97558ce7da.jpg
Kathy and Q (CRT Qadeer from Fuzzy's Cannon and CRT Bonnie) and
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Guest lori_ernie
Posted

Does it look like this?

 

2721844361_46417b877b.jpg

 

That's Jacey's butt in July 2008. The vet put her on Gentocin spray (two or three times a day, I think), and the scabby spots disappeared within the week.

 

It's really hard to see Pearl's sores because of her fur but this is what I was able to get a picture of. She wouldn't stand still very long 'cause these spots seem to really itch. The whole top of her back has these bumps all up and down and her fur is discolored from all the chewing. I'll talk to our vet and see what they say about Gentocin spray. Thanks.

 

Pearl's sores

Pearl's sores 2

Guest KateWantsaGrey
Posted

Pace's aren't quite that big. I forget-- is it bad to use flea shampoo on greyhounds? I feel like i was told it was, but i cant really remember.

Posted

Back to the vet. Could be staph.

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
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Guest Spencers_Greyt
Posted

Spencer had that and it ended up being a staph infection in his hair follicles and he needed antibiotics to clear it up.

Guest lori_ernie
Posted

Spencer had that and it ended up being a staph infection in his hair follicles and he needed antibiotics to clear it up.

 

Pearl has been on antibiotics for the last 30 days or so plus we've been giving her Benadryl to boot. Still hasn't cleared up.

Guest KateWantsaGrey
Posted (edited)

Okay-- so we ended up at the vet (doesn't it always end up there?) and here is what she gave us

 

Douxo Seborrhea Shampoo & Cephalexin 500mg & 250mg (2 pills) x2 a day

 

She said it was a bacterial infection of his skin. I have no idea what brought it on, but I hope that it will clear up soon with these two prescriptions. I will post again after a week or so and let everyone know how things are going, I really hope this does the trick. Lorie-- have you tried these two things already?

Edited by KateWantsaGrey
Guest Spencers_Greyt
Posted

Okay-- so we ended up at the vet (doesn't it always end up there?) and here is what she gave us

 

Douxo Seborrhea Shampoo & Cephalexin 500mg x2 daily

 

She said it was a bacterial infection of his skin. I have no idea what brought it on, but I hope that it will clear up soon with these two prescriptions. I will post again after a week or so and let everyone know how things are going, I really hope this does the trick. Lorie-- have you tried these two things already?

That's what Spencer was given too. It will clear up. How often are you supposed to shampoo? Spencer had to have it done twice a week for a few weeks.

Guest KateWantsaGrey
Posted

Okay-- so we ended up at the vet (doesn't it always end up there?) and here is what she gave us

 

Douxo Seborrhea Shampoo & Cephalexin 500mg x2 daily

 

She said it was a bacterial infection of his skin. I have no idea what brought it on, but I hope that it will clear up soon with these two prescriptions. I will post again after a week or so and let everyone know how things are going, I really hope this does the trick. Lorie-- have you tried these two things already?

That's what Spencer was given too. It will clear up. How often are you supposed to shampoo? Spencer had to have it done twice a week for a few weeks.

 

 

The Rx label says use 1 time a week for 4 weeks, and then "as needed" for maintenance

Guest lori_ernie
Posted

Okay-- so we ended up at the vet (doesn't it always end up there?) and here is what she gave us

 

Douxo Seborrhea Shampoo & Cephalexin 500mg x2 daily

 

She said it was a bacterial infection of his skin. I have no idea what brought it on, but I hope that it will clear up soon with these two prescriptions. I will post again after a week or so and let everyone know how things are going, I really hope this does the trick. Lorie-- have you tried these two things already?

That's what Spencer was given too. It will clear up. How often are you supposed to shampoo? Spencer had to have it done twice a week for a few weeks.

 

 

The Rx label says use 1 time a week for 4 weeks, and then "as needed" for maintenance

 

 

Thanks to all. I will talk to the vet and see what they say. Definitely appreciate the advice.

Posted

Okay-- so we ended up at the vet (doesn't it always end up there?) and here is what she gave us

 

Douxo Seborrhea Shampoo & Cephalexin 500mg & 250mg (2 pills) x2 a day

 

She said it was a bacterial infection of his skin. I have no idea what brought it on, but I hope that it will clear up soon with these two prescriptions. I will post again after a week or so and let everyone know how things are going, I really hope this does the trick. Lorie-- have you tried these two things already?

That will probably do it. If not, a shift to another antibiotic is needed. We recently had a problem with my longdog. It turned out to be a combo of staph & pseudomonas. The pseudomonas is what caused the rash resulting in multitudinous little scabs. We knew what it was because a spot on her right hock turned red & swollen. As the day wore on, approaching time for her vet appointment, that hock increased dramatically in size & the rash spread. The speed was frightening. So we went ahead & did a culture even though she was started on cephalexin, a poultice for her back legs & Malaseb shampoo. (Shampoo comparable to what you got.) The culture came back & cipro was added for the pseudomonas. None of the other dogs has ever had a skin infection & they did not get this one either. Just the one dog.

Guest KateWantsaGrey
Posted

Do you know if this stuff can be caught by humans? Do I need to worry about my own skin? And do i need to wash all his bedding and stuff to keep it from spreading?

Posted

Do you know if this stuff can be caught by humans? Do I need to worry about my own skin? And do i need to wash all his bedding and stuff to keep it from spreading?

We didn't worry about it spreading to ourselves or the other dogs. Yes, some of these can effect both dogs & humans. The most common ones like some staph, are normally present without causing infection. It takes some physical insult or a lowered immune system to make one vulnerable to them. No one, dogs, humans or cats, caught Luna's staph or pseudomonas. I did not do any extra washing of anyone except Luna.

  • 2 weeks later...
Guest bthom70
Posted

New Greytalk user, but have been lurking for almost 10 years.

 

Funny I should find this post, I was looking up information about staph skin infection and cephalexin.

 

I just took our new 2yo Brindle Duncan to the vet and was told he has a staph infection over 90% of his body.

He was prescribed cephalexin 500mg 2pills 3x day. The vet said his skin infection was probably due to stress, new home, the neutering process, all the previous vet stuff, the almost 30hr travel trip from Florida to CT back in Oct.

Duncan has been with us only 4 months, actually turned 2 only 3 weeks after he came to live with us. He never raced and was not handled that much, so he's afraid of everyone, sudden movements and of course loud sounds. He even pulls out of martingale collars so we had to purchase a Premier Easy Walk harness with the D-ring on the chest, this way it puts pressure behind his shoulder and not the neck.

 

We've been battling dandruff and shedding for a few months but it finally go so bad, plus we had to tackle the flea problem. So all of this combined with trying to limit baths to 1 per month finally was not working. This past week I had had enough so off to the vet and the diagnosis of staph skin infection.

We even thought the shedding and dandruff was due to change in food, because we all know how horrible the food they get fed is.

Duncan is our 5th greyhound over the last 10 years, lost 2 to cancer and 1 to a sudden illness. We have always had 2 greyhounds in our family and our red fawn Sandy who turned 10 on Christmas and was very heartbroken when we lost Jonny in Sept. We knew we had to find a special replacement, we went to REGAPCT after they had just received a haul from Florida, of course we were smitten with several of the newbies but knowing we were experienced adopters we took the interest in the most difficult one there. NK Brad became Duncan and he's made great progress in becoming a pet in our home, now we have to get over this blasted staph infection.

 

Brian in Danbury CT

Guest lori_ernie
Posted

New Greytalk user, but have been lurking for almost 10 years.

 

Funny I should find this post, I was looking up information about staph skin infection and cephalexin.

 

I just took our new 2yo Brindle Duncan to the vet and was told he has a staph infection over 90% of his body.

He was prescribed cephalexin 500mg 2pills 3x day. The vet said his skin infection was probably due to stress, new home, the neutering process, all the previous vet stuff, the almost 30hr travel trip from Florida to CT back in Oct.

Duncan has been with us only 4 months, actually turned 2 only 3 weeks after he came to live with us. He never raced and was not handled that much, so he's afraid of everyone, sudden movements and of course loud sounds. He even pulls out of martingale collars so we had to purchase a Premier Easy Walk harness with the D-ring on the chest, this way it puts pressure behind his shoulder and not the neck.

 

We've been battling dandruff and shedding for a few months but it finally go so bad, plus we had to tackle the flea problem. So all of this combined with trying to limit baths to 1 per month finally was not working. This past week I had had enough so off to the vet and the diagnosis of staph skin infection.

We even thought the shedding and dandruff was due to change in food, because we all know how horrible the food they get fed is.

Duncan is our 5th greyhound over the last 10 years, lost 2 to cancer and 1 to a sudden illness. We have always had 2 greyhounds in our family and our red fawn Sandy who turned 10 on Christmas and was very heartbroken when we lost Jonny in Sept. We knew we had to find a special replacement, we went to REGAPCT after they had just received a haul from Florida, of course we were smitten with several of the newbies but knowing we were experienced adopters we took the interest in the most difficult one there. NK Brad became Duncan and he's made great progress in becoming a pet in our home, now we have to get over this blasted staph infection.

 

Brian in Danbury CT

 

 

Welcome aboard Brian. Sorry to hear about Duncan's staph issues. But I'm so glad to hear of people like you out there who are willing to take on the wonderful opportunity of adopting a spook. We have one also and she has made such strides over the last year it's just amazing. She really didn't start coming out of her shell until we brought greyhound number 4 into the house. That's when the changes really began and she was making sure she didn't get left out when it came to asking for attention. It truly is a wonderful thing to watch. I'm planning to take Pearl back to the vet again this week and let him know of all these wonderful suggestions and see what they say. Thanks for your input.

 

Lori in Wichita, KS

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